Bandhan Nifty 100 Index Fund vs Union Largecap Fund

Union Largecap Fund is an actively managed large cap fund scheme: a fund manager picks and weights the holdings, and charges a higher expense ratio for doing so. Bandhan Nifty 100 Index Fund does the opposite — it simply tracks NIFTY 100 and charges very little. This page settles the question that actually matters before you invest in either: over the periods we can measure, did the active fund earn its fee?

Both sides are compared on their official AMFI NAV history (direct plan, growth option) — the same daily data the fund houses publish. Using the index fund rather than the raw NIFTY 100 level is deliberate: a tracking fund's NAV already includes its expense ratio and tracking error, so this is the return an investor could genuinely have captured, not a theoretical index number nobody can buy.

Over the 3-year period the two are effectively tied: Union Largecap Fund returned +10.45% annualised against +10.45% for Bandhan Nifty 100 Index Fund. A gap this small is noise, not skill — and it means the active fund's higher fee bought you nothing measurable over this stretch.

The picture is mixed depending on the period you pick (3-year: +10.45% vs +10.45% · 1-year: +0.68% vs +0.57%). This is the usual pattern for active funds — leading over some stretches and lagging over others — and it is exactly why a single headline return is a poor basis for choosing.

On risk the two have behaved similarly over the trailing year — annualised volatility of 13.7% for Union Largecap Fund against 13.8% for Bandhan Nifty 100 Index Fund. On worst falls, the deepest drawdown in our stored history is −16.3% for Union Largecap Fund against −17.3% for Bandhan Nifty 100 Index Fund.

One factor sits outside the returns above: cost. An index fund tracking NIFTY 100 typically charges a fraction of what an actively managed large cap fund scheme does, and that difference is deducted every year whether the manager performs or not. Over a long holding period a persistent fee gap compounds into a meaningful sum, which is why an active fund needs to beat its benchmark by more than its extra cost simply to break even with the tracker.

Which to choose comes down to what you believe about the next decade rather than the last one. Index funds guarantee you the benchmark's return minus a small fee; active funds offer the possibility of more, with the risk of less and a higher certain cost. Use the growth chart above to see how each behaved through actual market cycles, and consider a SEBI-registered adviser before switching. This comparison is informational and is not investment advice.